Madison Area Memorial High School’s Kathryn Worthen blocks Mt. Abram High School’s Ashlyn Sorel on Tuesday during their Class C quarterfinal game in Augusta. (Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal)
AUGUSTA — Madison’s defense was so constricting and fast that it took the Mt. Abram Roadrunners out of their offense for most this Class C South girls’ basketball quarterfinal game at the Augusta Civic Center.
But the fourth-ranked Bulldogs (17-3) have been doing that all along this season. Their pressure defense flourished and led to a 62-27 victory over the 12-ranked Roadrunners (11-9) on Tuesday evening.
“We wanted to make sure we were shutting them down,” Madison coach Al Veneziano said. “They have some good shooters…. and we had to make sure we had to take that away from them. I thought we did a good job with that tonight.”
Indeed the Bulldogs did.
By the third quarter, Madison had built a sturdy 51-23 lead thanks to a harassing defense that made the Roadrunners uncomfortable all night.
The senior center took a pounding inside every time she went up for a rebound or basket, but that didn’t deter her from scoring 18 points. Sophomore guard Laurie LeBlanc threw in the game-high 19 points and Ashley Emery helped out with 10.
Summer Ross tried to help the Roadrunners’ cause with her team-high 14 points. Teammate and center Ashlyn Sorel dropped in seven points.
“She usually comes to play for us every night,” Veneziano said. “But tonight she was exceptionally well — excited about playing tonight, I guess. I thought she went for every board. She boxed out well. She got us a good chance to push the basketball up the floor.”
Mt. Abram coach Larry Donald knows the Bulldogs are a tough act to follow — especially in the playoffs.
“We didn’t play particularly well,” Donald said. “They shot very well. I figure they must have 60 or 70 percent better.
To their credit, the Roadrunners played with with a seven-man team compared to the Bulldogs’ depth.
“It is what it is,” Donald said. “I knew Madison had the inside-outside game, and when we beat them over at Madison, they didn’t have both working — and we were on. They played well.
“I told them, ‘Hey, we got here and there are a lot teams at home or sitting in the stands watching.”
Madison owned the first half as well, building a 32-11 lead. Hay threw in 14 points and was equally powerful on the boards. LeBlanc helped out with her first-half nine points.
Madison Area Memorial High School’s Lauria LeBlanc dribbles through Mt. Abram High School’s Lindsay Huff Tuesday during their Class C quarterfinal game in Augusta. (Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal)
Send questions/comments to the editors.
